Not many Leicester City captains can say they have lifted a major trophy at Wembley.

In fact, There’s only three.

Simon Grayson lifted the First Division play-off trophy in 1994, Steve Walsh did the same two years later, before Matt Elliott raised the League Cup in 2000.

So, Elliott is the only one if you refuse to count the play-offs as official 'major' trophies.

When City won the League Cup in 1997, it was after a replay at Hillsborough.

When they won it for the first time in 1964, the final had been played over two legs with the latter at Filbert Street.

Their 1971 Charity Shield win was also played at Filbert Street.

Wes Morgan will hope to become the fourth captain this season, lifting the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

As everyone knows, all four previous finals have ended in defeat.

Matt Elliott after City's 2-1 victory over Tranmere in the 2000 Worthington Cup final

First, though, City must get past Chelsea in their quarter-final clash tomorrow.

This will be the eighth time they have faced one another in the FA Cup and Leicester are yet to get past them.

Elliott knows this only too well, having played in two of them.

We spoke to the former City captain about how, for all his Wembley success, his memories of the FA Cup are far, far less positive.

Chelsea 1-0 Leicester City, FA Cup fifth-round replay, 1997

It was the beginning of Chelsea’s big-name era: Roberto Di Matteo, Frank Leboeuf and Gianfranco Zola had signed for a combined sum of £12 million while Frode Grodas and Gianluca Vialli had joined on free transfers.

City had snatched a 2-2 draw in the first tie, forcing a replay at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a late own goal from Eddie Newton.

Everyone knows what happened next. Goalless after 90 minutes in the replay, heading for penalties.

Then Erland Johnsen flung himself over Elliott’s leg, into Spencer Prior’s backside and the referee Mike Reed fell for it.

“I had thought I could get there and make the challenge, but realised halfway through, I wasn’t going to get there and pulled out,” says Elliott. “Johnsen thought I was going to make it, took a tumble and bundled into Spencer. It was never a foul.”

Simon Grayson and Matt Elliott argue with referee Mike Reed after his controversial penalty award in the FA Cup game at Stamford Bridge in February 1997

Those frustrations, though, were aimed more at the referee than Johnsen.

“He had taken the bait,” says Elliott. “Johnsen made a quick exit. He didn’t argue his point, he had got his reward. I think he knew he has cheated the ref. I lay more blame at the ref. He panicked and it cost us.”

Read More

“The celebrations weren’t that huge because we were a goal down with minutes left. It ended in disappointment again, but it was a slight silver lining.”

Leicester’s next meeting with Chelsea in the FA Cup was a quarter-final in 2012. Again, it would end in defeat. This time it was a 5-2 loss at Stamford Bridge, with two goals from Fernando Torres. The most memorable aspect for Leicester was Ben Marshall’s worldie.

This was past Elliott’s playing days, of course, but he does have experience of playing in a FA Cup quarter-final for Leicester. Yet again, those memories are not happiest.

Leicester City 1-2 Wycombe, FA Cup quarter-final, 2001

You guessed it. It’s that one. Premier League Leicester at home to third-tier Wycombe.

Roy Essandoh, nicknamed the Ceefax Striker after he replied to Wycombe’s teletext advert looking for a striker, came off the bench to score the late winner.

Leicester’s best chance of winning the competition since 1982 had gone. And with it came the beacon of disaster that marked the downfall of the Peter Taylor era.

“That was, along with relegation the following season, the two lowest times of my time at Leicester,” says Elliott.

“It had an impact on subsequent times. Things were starting to go wrong behind the scenes and on the pitch. It all came to a head in that game. From there it was a downward spiral.”